Chapter 575. The Day Nemesis Falls (1)

"To think the only colleague I work with would return in such a state."

"Don't pretend to be surprised. This was within the scope of expectations."

The one waiting inside naturally pointed out the mess of this body's outward appearance first.

"The distortion near the gate was severe, as expected, but that side broke through all kinds of difficulties to land an attack spell on me...."

"Was that superior truly alive?"

"Since we've already handed in our resignations, there's no need to treat that creature as a superior anymore."

The injuries were severe, but fortunately, my vocal cords were still intact. I hurriedly stopped the blood flowing from various places on my skin and began to speak.

"Anyway, it seems this exploration ends here. I have a few pieces of news I brought back from the other side."

"Naturally, there should be."

"Roughly speaking, there's good news and bad news. Which one do you want to hear first?"

By chance, a very worn-out phrase came out of my mouth.

"The good news."

However, Kang Changho didn't pay much attention to the tedious expression and shot back his answer. At any rate, he likely felt there was nothing to be gained by quibbling over fine details from the start of the conversation. Kang Changho seemed to have resolved to simply go along with whatever was said for now. He waited for the next sentence with a compliant attitude.

"...The local Alphaurans have been wiped out."

But this was not the kind of good news one would generally expect.

"All those many mages of Alphauri were wiped out?"

Whoo.

Kang Changho seemed to utter this sentence as a way of confirming the situation.

"Are you saying that truly not a single person is left, and every one of them is undeniably dead?"

"If we limit it to entities that possess biological bodies, for now, that's right..."

From his perspective, this was understandably hard to believe. In fact, the operation to spread [Gaia's] mana required a great deal of time, so success could not be guaranteed. If a colleague who returned alive from a foreign land suddenly claimed to have subjugated every enemy, a subtle reaction was bound to follow.

"...."

Someone soon wore an expression close to skepticism. But I did not yield to the cold atmosphere and continued my explanation.

'He knows well enough that I wasn't the one who carried out a massacre.'

Since Kang Changho had been collecting information related to mana and magic circles indiscriminately from this side.... he would likely have a rough idea through his sixth sense that the Archmage hadn't achieved an overwhelming victory over there.

Therefore.

"It seems you've roughly grasped the atmosphere. From now on, I'll tell you the truly important situation."

"Go ahead."

Now I disclosed the bad news I had held back.

"The Alphaurins were planning to thoroughly overhaul the Earth to coincide with the '10th Anniversary of the Dungeon Shock.'"

"What?"

"The explanation is a bit long, but if I summarize it as much as possible, it seems they too realized that time was far too insufficient to properly evolve humanity."

"And here I thought they had some other grand secret plan."

"So it seems they've reached the final resort of triggering a second [Great Extinction]."

By cutting away part of the ecosystem in this manner, mutations would explode in their own way within the vacant spaces of nature. In that process, a vessel more suitable for the aliens' use might be born.

"Right."

"Someone like you, Kang Changho, should be able to understand this situation immediately, right?"

"Well, if such a method were executed, the probability of seeing irregular Earthlings would certainly be higher than just sitting idly by...."

The man with the blue-violet hair rolled his eyes.

"But the 10th anniversary of the Dungeon Shock is too soon."

Indeed, that question was bound to come up now. Although we understood all the thought processes the invaders had gone through, hearing that the world would end with a margin of barely a year was still troublesome.

"To a long-lived species...... in terms of real feeling, this sounds like saying the world's lifespan has barely two weeks left."

Kang Changho stood up crookedly with his hands in his pockets. But I didn't change my posture at all. This was because I wasn't finished with what I had to say.

"No, Changho. You don't need to describe this as being short only 'perceptually.'"

"Hmm?"

"In fact, while I was fighting the person in charge over there, I shortened that disaster schedule."

"Exactly by how much?"

"Just as you said just now, it seems there are truly only exactly two weeks left."

The void green of the [Dragon's Eye] stared at me.

"One ancient Alphauran, just like us, is still alive on the other side. That person suddenly took a turn and declared they couldn't stand to see Earth alone remain intact."

This was news that naturally brought about bewilderment. However, Kang Changho fundamentally almost never made a negative expression—usually, he was either smiling or expressionless. Moreover, because he didn't consider himself an Earthling.... Kang Changho was able to engage in the conversation while maintaining a calm, bystander-like perspective.

"Lemming. Explain the stories you heard over there in more detail."

"Ah... R—right."

Since the Chief Engineer has graciously uttered a precise request.

"First of all, that ancient mage with severe mental issues was living with his body buried underground—"

I hurriedly began my additional testimony. The event where a dark shadow suddenly surged from beneath the earth. The event where a mage with hundreds of red gazes spoke to me. And the ancient mage expressing a rage bordering on madness, and so on.

"Seriously, this b*stard showed his crazy side not even a few minutes after encountering me."

At this point, it was unavoidable that a somewhat hollow voice came out. I spoke in a weakened tone as the fatigue from the battle still lingered, and as soon as all the sentences were finished, Kang Changho reacted immediately.

"Originally, animals are bound to perform eccentricities when driven to their limits."

Kang Changho was in the middle of accepting the situation flexibly.

"Furthermore, it's not particularly difficult to understand why that grand superior turned so rapidly as if a trigger had been pulled."

"What?"

By the way, this was a somewhat unexpected statement.

"It's obvious."

Shift. The other party had calluses on his knuckles from long-term kickboxing. Kang Changho pointed in my direction with such a finger and continued.

"Because the existence of the 1st Magic Master is no different from a living disaster."

His straightly extended index finger looked desolate today.

"The words the enemy said on the surface don't matter much. At this point, just try imagining it yourself. How would it feel if a wild beast you thought you had completely suppressed and locked in an iron cage one day walked free and returned?"

"...."

"100 years? 3,000 years?"

"...."

"Honestly, a period like that is hardly enough for the majesty of a wild beast to be completely forgotten."

"...."

"And somehow, judging by the atmosphere, it seems you don't even know your own image very well."

"Know what?"

"In truth, ordinary Alphaurian citizens would naturally fall into a delusion just by seeing the Magic Master's shadow. They believed that 'that mage' would surely produce the best move even in the worst situation—"

"...."

"A blind faith that he is more than capable of interfering with others' plans even from an unexpected place remains alive in everyone's genes."

"...."

"Yet, a certain mage actually quickly acquired gate manipulation skills and even just went over there and came back, didn't he?"

Kang Changho retracted his extended index finger and casually shoved his hand into his pocket.

"If things went like that, I'd want to throw everything away too."

"Are you saying he became desperate?"

"To represent the perspective of that husk-sculpting addict superior, he was likely accepting death even more clearly from the moment he realized you had reincarnated."

"...."

"The migration plan has no possibility anyway. But now, the evidence of the sins committed in the past is walking around in a suit. Certainly, the Archmage appearing like this might feel like a sign of destruction sent by the heavens. It's interesting."

"...."

"But to think the feeling of giving up would evolve into mass slaughter of all things."

"Right? That guy is completely insane!"

"My, my. Anyway, I wonder if that superior has become pathetic over time... or if he's become relatable."

I don't know why the word 'relatable' came up.

"Regrettably, I find myself deeply empathizing with that part."

"What?"

"Honestly, now I only have thoughts of the same vein."

It was around the time I was widening my eyes in surprise.

"Now then, since the topic has come up, let me make a proposal."

Kang Changho grandly offered an opinion as if seizing a niche market.

"The Archmage seems to have forgotten, but fortunately, there is still a way to fundamentally block the access of Alphaurians to this world."

"Ah."

"You mean sealing the Earth's mana and removing the magic passages along with it."

"That talk again......"

"Is this not surely an opportunity granted by the heavens? It's perfect that the binary star world has gone to hell. The time has finally come for us to properly join hands."

"No. It hasn't come."

I wondered what on earth this man was babbling about.

"But is there any other way to close the [Major Gate]?"

The massive man before my eyes proposed once again to overcome the crisis by using the psychic population as a sacrifice.

"Just wait a moment!"

Of course, there was no way I would accept that.

"I never said there was only one piece of good news."

Shift.

By now, red scabs were starting to form over the wounds. I pointlessly wiped my forehead with the back of my hand where the bleeding had stopped. And in this posture, I spat out the next words.

"The Great Extinction period being pushed forward to two weeks is certainly an emergency, but what the other side has decided to do is a literal last-ditch struggle."

A last-ditch struggle. Or a struggle devoid of reason. Such a fact was clearly visible to the Archmage's eyes.

"Moreover, this body returned after properly inflicting physical damage on that mentally unstable mage."

"Is that true?"

"As planned, I forced him to swallow [Gaia's] poison into his lungs."

Damage to flesh caused by mana is not easily repaired even by miraculous healing sorcery. As a specialist in golem engineering, Kang Changho was a person who would know this fact better than anyone. Therefore, whether he had roughly deduced the Ruler's state, he shifted into a somewhat more relaxed posture.

"...That will certainly influence the final battle."

I conveyed my opinion to him as he stood crookedly.

"With that much exposure to Earth's mana, he won't be able to survive for long. That's why he said he would attack within the short period of two weeks."

Furthermore, the fact that this Archmage returned intact without turning into a handful of dust was physical evidence that the opponent had been weakened.

'As long as that b*stard cannot resolve the injury inflicted by [Gaia], whenever he appears, he will have to fight with his strength diminished....'

Assuming such a background for the duel, I too had many means. The opposing mage was one who had harvested countless lives as if they were his possessions, simply because it was certain the residents would suffer.

But because this madman also possessed an extremely impatient attitude....

'The fact that the enemy is cornered is a positive signal from a hunter's perspective.'

In the first place, the matter cannot be resolved if one is intimidated by the opponent. A fight between mages traditionally ends if one's momentum is suppressed. I braced my heart again around this time.

"I have a good method."

Swish.

As I spoke, the green eyes that had been looking elsewhere returned to look straight ahead.

"The other side is overlooking an important fact. In my life, I have studied 'how to kill living beings that have become machines' very deeply on my own."

"True. Lemming, you—"

As my compatriot trailed off, I quickly added the next words.

"So I propose: if that ancient mage crosses over to Earth, I can definitely dismantle the body he uses."

"...."

"Of course, an idea to safely trap the mage crossing over to Earth in a specific location has already occurred to me as well."

"Such a thing."

"We had already assumed all these situations anyway. It's okay. It's possible! Mathematically, I can kill the enemy while minimizing human casualties."

The [Dragon's Eye] was still staring at me.

"I'll attempt to protect it, staking my name and life."

"The guarantee of an Archmage, huh."

"But since there is naturally a lot to prepare to execute such a thing... could you please help me just one last time? Hunter Kang Changho?"

Soon, the land of the blue star might become a battlefield—. An ordinary Alphaurian would likely step away from the scene immediately upon hearing such a prediction. But the mage currently progressing with the work was a special case with a great rebellious streak.

"Hmm."

I tried to awaken his humanity somehow by consistently mentioning his Earth-style name.

"In the end, the flow turns out like this."

"Why?"

"Overall, it's not to my liking."

But as you can see, it didn't go well.

"Well, for one, Earth is a nest I must use from now on as well. I'll lend my strength as far as subjugating that persistent mage, but...."

Kang Changho spoke lightheartedly with the corners of his mouth turned up.

"You're trying to put me in danger until the very end. I truly dislike that point."

"Not just the psychics, but you won't be in great danger either. I'll work on it!"

"Am I supposed to trust a promise babbled by an Alphaurian?"